LG UltraFine 5K - Issues/bugs

[jimthing]

Yep as you can see below screenshot captured when connected to Mac mini, same for macbook pro

[doublepost=1544707954][/doublepost]
To be honest, I'm very curious how did they pass the QA test. My guess is they probably never do the integration test between the laptop and monitor otherwise such issue shouldn't happen. When I did a google for LG ultrafine seeing a bunch of issues happened in the past 1-2 years and still not much solution yet. I think the most effective solution is to seek for alternate 5k monitor that can do a better job.

There aren't any other 5K3K's on the market that are any better. USB-C 5K3K's should arrive some time, but no idea of exactly when, as the new iPad Pro's support "up to a 5K display" according to Apple, and given the port on them is a plain vanilla USB-C gen.2 10Gbps (not TB3 40Gbps), they'd have to be vanilla USB-C displays and not TB3 displays like the LG 5K UltraFine. I've been looking for news on this, but annoyingly nothing is out there in the public realm yet. :-(

The Ambient Light Sensor doesn't work on these displays. And unfortunately, they also cannot simply mirror the sensor on a connected Mac's display either, so each display has to be adjusted manually.

AFAIR from earlier thread posts, people using Macs with only integrated graphics (13MBP, Mac Mini, et al) are the ones that mostly have the issues, as my maxed-out 2016 15MBP runs two LG 5K's with virtually no problems, even after waking from sleep.
It's strange that the latest Mac Mini is having the problems you mention, as you'd think the integrated GPU ("Intel UHD Graphics 630") would be better than the integrated ones in 2016-2017 13MBP's?

The 2018 13MBP has "Intel Iris Plus Graphics 655" which AFAIU is around 35% better performance than the 2018 MM's, rather annoyingly. This is likely deliberate on Apple's end as an up-sell technique to get users to spend even more buying external GPU's like their £600 & £1200 Blackmagic options (https://www.apple.com/uk/search/GPU?src=globalnav ). They're rather a rip-off compared to third-party ones you can actually change the GPU inside later on, but the Blackmagic's are the only ones with TB3 output; no third-party ones do it, so you're forced into one of these two models to support the LG 5K.

I was thinking about upgrading my 2012 Mac Mini I use as a server to the new ones (likely i7, with 2TB – the larger the storage apparently the faster the speed, too: https://twitter.com/tapbot_paul/status/1060609173224939523 !), but the integrated GPU's lack of even basic performance is holding me back. The MM with AC+ would cost £2700 alone(!), then I'd be forced to use one of those BM eGPU's (likely the "Pro" 54 – already outdated by 64 eGPUs!), at another £1200 = £3900! Then 32GB non-Apple RAM upgrade (£250) = £4150, and it doesn't even have a display for the price... may as well get a new 2018 15MBP for that kind of money, or hold off for the next 15MBP upgrade to buy one!

Ridiculous money, if you ask me. So I'm on hold for now. F*ck Apple and their very deliberate crappy iGPU options, they really are becoming a laughing stock on how scrooge-like they're being on everything these days.

 

[whoisyourdaddy]

Below is the version, i guess is the latest one since it says up to date.

I just checked my version and it's 3.01,1.11,5234,3.00,0.1d. LG Screen Manager reports that it's currently up to date. Considering that I wasn't offered an update, then I don't have a bin file to share if someone wanted to update their 5K. System Information reports my display firmware version 9.4, camera version 1.11, USB Hub version 52.34, USB Controls version 3.00, USB Audio version 0.1d. Unsure of where to find what the "3.01" string indicates. Anyone have an idea?

Perhaps, it's the firmware release version for the entire package. I wonder if some are experiencing issues from having different firmware versions which were pulled later for being problematic. Considering that I do not experience any issues then I'm not courageous enough to flash a newer firmware. It could be that some which receive it are a different model,manufacturing date, region, etc. I docked my MBP today and have tested it with sleep manual and automatically. It's resumed from sleep after approximately 5-10 seconds of the MBP waking. There is a slight delay when waking in comparison to when I've observed my older Apple TB Display. But, I've not had to worry of anything more than a very brief delay. Perhaps, as another member stated, they've observed the majority of those complaining are using IG as opposed to DG.

BTW. I checked since I never looked until I was replying to you for checking and disabling. I hadn't used this monitor for long and find it hard to believe that some other models which have ambient sensors are enabled but this 5K didn't. Wow!

 

[Squuiid]

I just checked my version and it's 3.01,1.11,5234,3.00,0.1d. LG Screen Manager reports that it's currently up to date. Considering that I wasn't offered an update, then I don't have a bin file to share if someone wanted to update their 5K. System Information reports my display firmware version 9.4, camera version 1.11, USB Hub version 52.34, USB Controls version 3.00, USB Audio version 0.1d. Unsure of where to find what the "3.01" string indicates. Anyone have an idea?

Perhaps, it's the firmware release version for the entire package. I wonder if some are experiencing issues from having different firmware versions which were pulled later for being problematic. Considering that I do not experience any issues then I'm not courageous enough to flash a newer firmware. It could be that some which receive it are a different model,manufacturing date, region, etc. I docked my MBP today and have tested it with sleep manual and automatically. It's resumed from sleep after approximately 5-10 seconds of the MBP waking. There is a slight delay when waking in comparison to when I've observed my older Apple TB Display. But, I've not had to worry of anything more than a very brief delay. Perhaps, as another member stated, they've observed the majority of those complaining are using IG as opposed to DG.

BTW. I checked since I never looked until I was replying to you for checking and disabling. I hadn't used this monitor for long and find it hard to believe that some other models which have ambient sensors are enabled but this 5K didn't. Wow!

The app is garbage at detecting wether an update is needed. If you're on 3.01 it would be wise to update to 3.04 like the rest of us.

 

[whoisyourdaddy]

The app is garbage at detecting wether an update is needed. If you're on 3.01 it would be wise to update to 3.04 like the rest of us.

I've actually read that a few months back in posts that there were users who never received the offer for 3.04. I could scour and maybe find a changelog. Do you have reference to one and do you have a direct link to LG's servers for downloading 3.04? I'll contact LG support to determine if they freely provide it after informing them of my current version and that the app doesn't provide a newer version. However, I'm not going to if they inform me that this update was pushed to particular monitors for specific reasons or that it was pulled for various reasons. What is the benefit and why would I be wise to update?

 

[whoisyourdaddy]

Just a thought for anyone that's interested. You could attempt to retrieve your current firmware which would include your EDID. I've corrected a small number of monitors and built-in displays in the past with retrieving the EDID, correcting it, and rewriting to the display. This is risky and you must be extremely cautious and absolutely certain that the information being written is correct. The recovery for getting the EDID re-written from a failed write can be difficult or not doable. I can dig up the software and manuals if someone wants to go about getting their EDID from their display. Maybe possible in macOS but usually Linux or Windows have more utilities easily found and user-friendly. If I have some free time to play around with getting mine, then I'll post it. It's possible that some of the people who are experiencing issues may have an incomplete firmware written or corrupted. By VESA standards, the EDID should be locked against being written to without the use of a utility which is provided in the LG Screen Manager. Of course, you may be able to use this utility from a BASH prompt with switches unavailable in the app to retrieve your current firmware.

 

[whoisyourdaddy]

The app is garbage at detecting wether an update is needed. If you're on 3.01 it would be wise to update to 3.04 like the rest of us.

I investigated the app further and determined that there is an update but that it fails. When opening the log for LG Screen Manager executable, then it checks a database against the currently installed version. After using this cross-reference, then it moves on to download the firmware *.bin file but isn't able to because the server link for the app receives a reply of "NotAllowed". So, instead of the app informing you of there being an update available and the update process failed in some way, then LG programmed the app to just reply each time with your device is up to date when it's not true. Probably, a ploy to avoid customer support complaints and reports about not able to update their monitors since many models use this app. I've contacted LG twice by email and they're slow or avoiding replying to my inquiry about the latest firmware available and/or providing me the *.bin file. Do you or anyone else have a direct LG link for downloading the *.bin file?

 

[whoisyourdaddy]

Below is the version, i guess is the latest one since it says up to date.

Do you know if your firmware was already installed when you acquired your 5K or that you updated it? If you updated, then check if you still have the firmware package which would have been downloaded. I've been searching for it myself and LG support has replied to my inquiry with there have been no firmware updates ever released for the 27MD5KA. At this point, I was more aggravated because I've already came across two other firmware updates since this monitors release. I would like to get the firmware so that I can upload it to a file share for others and to flood their LG forum and customer support with the same.

 

[whoisyourdaddy]

Posted this link in another thread for helping out others who would like to have in case of needing to reinstall or update to firmware version 3.04. You just download the *.zip file and use the LG Screen Manager to open this file for updating. Props to @jack1984

27MD5KA 3.04 firmware package
https://mirr.re/d/Zcq

 

[Ploki]

There aren't any other 5K3K's on the market that are any better. USB-C 5K3K's should arrive some time, but no idea of exactly when, as the new iPad Pro's support "up to a 5K display" according to Apple, and given the port on them is a plain vanilla USB-C gen.2 10Gbps (not TB3 40Gbps), they'd have to be vanilla USB-C displays and not TB3 displays like the LG 5K UltraFine. I've been looking for news on this, but annoyingly nothing is out there in the public realm yet. :-(

The Ambient Light Sensor doesn't work on these displays. And unfortunately, they also cannot simply mirror the sensor on a connected Mac's display either, so each display has to be adjusted manually.

AFAIR from earlier thread posts, people using Macs with only integrated graphics (13MBP, Mac Mini, et al) are the ones that mostly have the issues, as my maxed-out 2016 15MBP runs two LG 5K's with virtually no problems, even after waking from sleep.
It's strange that the latest Mac Mini is having the problems you mention, as you'd think the integrated GPU ("Intel UHD Graphics 630") would be better than the integrated ones in 2016-2017 13MBP's?

The 2018 13MBP has "Intel Iris Plus Graphics 655" which AFAIU is around 35% better performance than the 2018 MM's, rather annoyingly. This is likely deliberate on Apple's end as an up-sell technique to get users to spend even more buying external GPU's like their £600 & £1200 Blackmagic options (https://www.apple.com/uk/search/GPU?src=globalnav ). They're rather a rip-off compared to third-party ones you can actually change the GPU inside later on, but the Blackmagic's are the only ones with TB3 output; no third-party ones do it, so you're forced into one of these two models to support the LG 5K.

I was thinking about upgrading my 2012 Mac Mini I use as a server to the new ones (likely i7, with 2TB – the larger the storage apparently the faster the speed, too: https://twitter.com/tapbot_paul/status/1060609173224939523 !), but the integrated GPU's lack of even basic performance is holding me back. The MM with AC+ would cost £2700 alone(!), then I'd be forced to use one of those BM eGPU's (likely the "Pro" 54 – already outdated by 64 eGPUs!), at another £1200 = £3900! Then 32GB non-Apple RAM upgrade (£250) = £4150, and it doesn't even have a display for the price... may as well get a new 2018 15MBP for that kind of money, or hold off for the next 15MBP upgrade to buy one!

Ridiculous money, if you ask me. So I'm on hold for now. F*ck Apple and their very deliberate crappy iGPU options, they really are becoming a laughing stock on how scrooge-like they're being on everything these days.

Crappy iGPU is intel’s fault really.
15” mbps also have the abysmal 630 HD.

 

[whoisyourdaddy]

Crappy iGPU is intel’s fault really.
15” mbps also have the abysmal 630 HD.

I'd have to agree with you about the Intel GPU. Not that it's just "crappy" for what they achieved in the package but that it shouldn't have been advertised as having more consistent performance than real-world use. However, that's about every manufacturer which is why I've had to adhere to using hardware that meets the approximate average requirements or greater for software. If it's advertised with a minimum iGPU, then it won't be consistently sufficient for me. Hence, the 5K monitor really needs the performance of a DG card in the '16 MBP or greater. I wouldn't be surprised if the m370x in the '15 is actually better for pushing 5K at 60Hz over the '18 13" MBP iGPU.

 

[jimthing]

There aren't any other 5K3K's on the market that are any better. USB-C 5K3K's should arrive some time, but no idea of exactly when, as the new iPad Pro's support "up to a 5K display" according to Apple, and given the port on them is a plain vanilla USB-C gen.2 10Gbps (not TB3 40Gbps), they'd have to be vanilla USB-C displays and not TB3 displays like the LG 5K UltraFine. I've been looking for news on this, but annoyingly nothing is out there in the public realm yet. :-(

The Ambient Light Sensor doesn't work on these displays. And unfortunately, they also cannot simply mirror the sensor on a connected Mac's display either, so each display has to be adjusted manually.

AFAIR from earlier thread posts, people using Macs with only integrated graphics (13MBP, Mac Mini, et al) are the ones that mostly have the issues, as my maxed-out 2016 15MBP runs two LG 5K's with virtually no problems, even after waking from sleep.
It's strange that the latest Mac Mini is having the problems you mention, as you'd think the integrated GPU ("Intel UHD Graphics 630") would be better than the integrated ones in 2016-2017 13MBP's?

The 2018 13MBP has "Intel Iris Plus Graphics 655" which AFAIU is around 35% better performance than the 2018 MM's, rather annoyingly. This is likely deliberate on Apple's end as an up-sell technique to get users to spend even more buying external GPU's like their £600 & £1200 Blackmagic options (https://www.apple.com/uk/search/GPU?src=globalnav ). They're rather a rip-off compared to third-party ones you can actually change the GPU inside later on, but the Blackmagic's are the only ones with TB3 output; no third-party ones do it, so you're forced into one of these two models to support the LG 5K.

I was thinking about upgrading my 2012 Mac Mini I use as a server to the new ones (likely i7, with 2TB – the larger the storage apparently the faster the speed, too: https://twitter.com/tapbot_paul/status/1060609173224939523 !), but the integrated GPU's lack of even basic performance is holding me back. The MM with AC+ would cost £2700 alone(!), then I'd be forced to use one of those BM eGPU's (likely the "Pro" 54 – already outdated by 64 eGPUs!), at another £1200 = £3900! Then 32GB non-Apple RAM upgrade (£250) = £4150, and it doesn't even have a display for the price... may as well get a new 2018 15MBP for that kind of money, or hold off for the next 15MBP upgrade to buy one!

Ridiculous money, if you ask me. So I'm on hold for now. F*ck Apple and their very deliberate crappy iGPU options, they really are becoming a laughing stock on how scrooge-like they're being on everything these days.

Crappy iGPU is intel’s fault really.
15” mbps also have the abysmal 630 HD.

Yes, but Apple know that's it's crappy, yet still choose to put it into their Macs. Intel do a range of possible chips, and it's up to Apple to use one that's decent enough.

Why on earth would they not do that? Because they want to sell you more (overly expensive!) eGPU hardware; as I linked to. If they were bothered that the iGPU was crap for their customers, then they'd at least offer competitive eGPU's, rather than these BM ones, which they quite obviously don't.

 

[Ploki]

Yes, but Apple know that's it's crappy, yet still choose to put it into their Macs. Intel do a range of possible chips, and it's up to Apple to use one that's decent enough.

Why on earth would they not do that? Because they want to sell you more (overly expensive!) eGPU hardware; as I linked to. If they were bothered that the iGPU was crap for their customers, then they'd at least offer competitive eGPU's, rather than these BM ones, which they quite obviously don't.

Show me a 65W intel desktop chip with same cpu performance and better gpu
(There is none)
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coffee_Lake
All desktop offerings are HD630 even 9th gen i9 95w tdp.

They couldve embedded a dGPU which would destroy mini’s thermal envelope as it is now.

Lg 5k is unavailable anyway, so no problem there

 

[jimthing]

Show me a 65W intel desktop chip with same cpu performance and better gpu
(There is none)
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coffee_Lake
All desktop offerings are HD630 even 9th gen i9 95w tdp.

They couldve embedded a dGPU which would destroy mini’s thermal envelope as it is now.

Lg 5k is unavailable anyway, so no problem there

Precisely my underlying point – they should have put a dGPU into a properly designed unit! Instead, they chose an option that creates an incentive for a hell of a lot of users having to upgrade to (expensive) eGPU's – Apple's BM offerings or otherwise; they're all significant extra money.

LG 5K is unavailable... you wot? See here:
https://www.apple.com/shop/product/HKN62LL/A/lg-ultrafine-5k-display

 

[whoisyourdaddy]

I'd still like to see a display with a built in GPU for being switched to as the primary when a compatible device is connected or assisting with compatible AMD dGPU in devices via crossfire.

 

[Ploki]

Precisely my underlying point – they should have put a dGPU into a properly designed unit! Instead, they chose an option that creates an incentive for a hell of a lot of users having to upgrade to (expensive) eGPU's – Apple's BM offerings or otherwise; they're all significant extra money.

LG 5K is unavailable... you wot? See here:
https://www.apple.com/shop/product/HKN62LL/A/lg-ultrafine-5k-display

huh.
on most EU stores, both 4K and 5K were unavailable for order yesteday.
in germany, 4K was unavailable yesterday and is "shipping tomorrow" today, 5K was vice versa a day ago...
And in HU exactly the same - but now 4K is available and 5K is unavailable, it was opposite yesterday.

well, the mini wouldn't have been a mini if they equipped it with a dGPU since it would need additional or larger fan+enclosure, and a larger PSU (its 150W now).

Frankly I'd be super happy if the 8700b shipped with Iris Pro 655.

 

[PatrycjaKozdra]

It is still available to be added to cart in Canada. However, if you change your IP address to US you won't be able to add it to cart in some states, only pickup option is available which history shows Apple is looking sell out the stock as they most likely have a replacement coming soon. With so many issues reported in many forums with this monitor, I'm actually surprise it took them this long to make the switch...

 

[jimthing]

It is still available to be added to cart in Canada. However, if you change your IP address to US you won't be able to add it to cart in some states, only pickup option is available which history shows Apple is looking sell out the stock as they most likely have a replacement coming soon. With so many issues reported in many forums with this monitor, I'm actually surprise it took them this long to make the switch...

As I mentioned previously, it's more a case of USB-C gen.2 10Gbps full 5K3K displays arriving soon, as Apple say the 2018 iPad Pros with 10Gbps USB-C ports support 5K displays.

I have two of the (Thunderbolt 3 40Gbps) LG 5K UltraFine's in a maxed-out 2016 15MBP with dGPU, and they work perfectly well (inc. sleep!). The only thing is iGPU machines seem to struggle, despite Apple saying they support one LG 5K UltraFine. And that's highly irritating to users on those machines.

 

[WillO95]

huh.
on most EU stores, both 4K and 5K were unavailable for order yesteday.
in germany, 4K was unavailable yesterday and is "shipping tomorrow" today, 5K was vice versa a day ago...
And in HU exactly the same - but now 4K is available and 5K is unavailable, it was opposite yesterday.

- The 5K was out of stock in many countries a few weeks back, and then back in stock, and now out again....I hope that this is sorted out by next week as I want to order 2 in Switzerland when I'm there! (For info - Swiss; No Stock but able to add to cart with shipping in February, Belgium store; no stock and not able to add to cart, France; no stock and not able to add to cart.)

Whilst I know there are many screens to choose from, I find the 5K the best quality, so I hope they come back in stock, or an alternative shows itself soon!

 

[Ploki]

- The 5K was out of stock in many countries a few weeks back, and then back in stock, and now out again....I hope that this is sorted out by next week as I want to order 2 in Switzerland when I'm there! (For info - Swiss; No Stock but able to add to cart with shipping in February, Belgium store; no stock and not able to add to cart, France; no stock and not able to add to cart.)

Whilst I know there are many screens to choose from, I find the 5K the best quality, so I hope they come back in stock, or an alternative shows itself soon!

Yep, I'm in the same boat for the 4K, really set on it, but I prefer working on smaller screens, else I'd consider the 5K.
The stock fluctuates wildly for the two.
And we don't have apple officially in my country and the apple authorised distributor wont distribute the LGs, neither will the LG distributor, so I'll have to drive to Austria.. ugh

 

[WillO95]

Yep, I'm in the same boat for the 4K, really set on it, but I prefer working on smaller screens, else I'd consider the 5K.
The stock fluctuates wildly for the two.
And we don't have apple officially in my country and the apple authorised distributor wont distribute the LGs, neither will the LG distributor, so I'll have to drive to Austria.. ugh

I managed to get one in store here in Belgium, but I want to return it and by in Switzerland (less tax). I'm chatting to apple now to see if they have any more info as to why they have vanished.

DELL have some very good looking monitors now, but they aren't 5K and not VESA mountable

 

[Ploki]

I managed to get one in store here in Belgium, but I want to return it and by in Switzerland (less tax). I'm chatting to apple now to see if they have any more info as to why they have vanished.

DELL have some very good looking monitors now, but they aren't 5K and not VESA mountable

When i buy within EU, say Austria or Germany (I'm from Slovenia), I can get tax from the country of purchase refunded and pay tax in my own country. It's usually done at the customs office.

edit: However unlike other manufacturers, as far as I've seen, apple adjust the base price of hardware to get consistent base+tax price across different EU countries. (Which is terrible)

 

[WillO95]

When i buy within EU, say Austria or Germany (I'm from Slovenia), I can get tax from the country of purchase refunded and pay tax in my own country. It's usually done at the customs office

Yea that's the one thing I'm avoiding not technically legal I know, but my parents live there, so it's a loophole Belgium is 21% and Switzerland 6-8%

Apple chat yielded no fruit at to what it going on.

I presume/hope that when apple released there new battery case etc that we will see something

 

[whoisyourdaddy]

Acquired the BlackMagic eGPU Pro 580 at a price that I felt justified taking a chance on testing it out. After using it for the last day or so, then I can say there was even a noticeable improvement in daily use with the 5K over being driven by the MBP dGPU 560x. Usually, when I was multitasking along with CPU intensive tasks such as compiling or encoding, then there was a more noticeable hesitation with switching windows, etc when the fans were running up. I've not done any in-depth hardware testing but I did run the setup with just the dGPU and eGPU in Valley at native 5K resolution. On the 560x it was crawling but the 580 managed to vary between 35-40 FPS. Queried a few submissions and the Valley and GeekBench scores were on par. Probably, the biggest complaint, unless it already has a solution, is that disconnecting from the menu didn't give me the option to "reconnect". I disconnected and reconnected the TB 3 cable. It would be better to have a software interface. Not sure, as to why this couldn't be accomplished with the OS. Sleep has thus far been fine every time when waking. I've rebooted once since docked to it without shutting down and it required me to open the MBP from clamshell mode to initialize the eGPU. I would wager that many others who've been using the Intel iGPU would not have the problems that they've complained about if using an eGPU with their 5K. My interest was that it had USB with the TB 3 dock, is ridiculously quiet, and wasn't too much of an eyesore with my desk setup. It's met and/or exceeded my expectations. Anyone have any questions that may help them determine if this is an accessory that they are not sure about purchasing, then let me know.

 

[jack1984]

So I just realized I have some image retention. It's strangely only along the edges of the display which is why I haven't noticed until now. Warranty is finito so will just have to live with it. Would really suck if it started to occur closer to the middle of the screen.

 

[chris4565]

So I just realized I have some image retention. It's strangely only along the edges of the display which is why I haven't noticed until now. Warranty is finito so will just have to live with it. Would really suck if it started to occur closer to the middle of the screen.

I also have problems with that. And according to reports online we are by far not alone. By the way, it happens everywhere on the screen in my case but luckily I don't notice it too often (it depends on the background). If the background is e. g. grey it's very noticeable And sometimes it's enough if a static element is on screen for like 1 minute or even less...

Edit: Might it be that in fact you also have screen burn in problems potentially everywhere on the screen and you only notice it on the borders because there's much more static content there compared to the middle of the screen when you e. g. browse the web (the top of the screen with the URL bar etc. stays pretty much static all the time whereas the website contents in the middle of the screen change all the time due to scrolling etc.)?